Erskine f



(No Model.)

B. F. BIOKFORD.

RUBBER BOOT.

No. 404,674. Patented June 4, 1889.

N. PETERS. Phnkvhlhogmphcr. Washington. 0. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERSKINE F. BICKFORD, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE BOSTON RUBBER SHOE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

RUBBER BOOT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,674, dated June 4, 1889.

Application filed December 12, 1888. Serial No. 293,364:- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERSKINE F. BIoKEoED, of Maiden, in the count-y of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rubber Boots, of which the following is a specification.

This improvement relates to that portion of a rubber boot which is called the ankle-stay,

the object of which is to impart rigidity and an ankle-stay which will not encourage the" wrinkling andbreaking away of the boot at one or two exact points, but which will distribute the wrinkling or tendency to Wrinkle, so that no one particular spot will suffer. I accomplish this object by inserting an anklepiece, which is in the shape of a star having several radial points which receive the strain, and which, as they point in different directions, are somewhat, but not excessively, yielding to the different movements of the boot at those points, but will not allow of a permanent wrinkle and consequent breaking away.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is an elevation of a rubber boot provided with my improvement, a portion of the stock being represented as broken out, the

better to illustrate the invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same on line so, Fig. 1.

A represents the outside or stock, and B the lining.

C is my improved ankle-stay, made of rubber or other suitable material, rigidly cemented or otherwise secured between the lining B and outside part A, next the ankle. This piece is made in the form of a star with a solid center. The center part being solid, is of course the more rigid. The points of the star are somewhat yielding, growing more so, of course, near the ends. These points being radial project from the solid portion in different directions and render it practically impossible that permanent wrinkling or breaking away can be produced at the ankle.

The star shown in the drawings has six points. Of course the number of points may be varied somewhat, but the star-shaped character is always preserved.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, i s

In a rubber boot, an ankle-stay secured at the side of the ankle portion of the boot-leg between the lining and the rubber body, said stay having a series of radial points projecting in different directions laterally and vertically, which cross the lines on which there is any tendency to wrinkle and therebyprevent any continuous wrinkling and consequent breaking, substantially as set forth.

ERSKINE F. BICKFORD.

Witnesses:

HENRY W. WILLIAM, J. M. HARTNETT. 

